Just when you thought that things were cooling off, the patent wars have gotten interesting again. With the Apple vs Samsung patent mega-lawsuit starting soon, and now Kodak’s patent auctions approved, we are in for a ride!

Kodak has put up more than 1,100 patents up for sale, with most of them related to digital imaging and image capture, processing and transmission technologies for digital camera and smartphones.

These patents are expected to fetch billions of dollars, which is expected if you put up technology giants with billions of dollars in free cash and massive egos up against each other in a bidding war.

In what seems like a rehash of the Nortel patent auctions which ended up fetching $4.5 billion, Apple is teaming up with Microsoft and Intellectual Ventures, while Google is teaming up with RPX (another patent aggregation firm like IV) and Samsung, HTC and LG, the three top Android device makers.

While there could be many more bidders jumping in the fray later, these two consortiums have the most cash and are desperate to boost their patent portfolios.

Kodak, which filed for bankruptcy months ago, is counting on the cash generated through the patent sales to restructure and become a viable company again.